By Chris Taylor
Clarksville, TN – 19th Judicial District Attorney General John Carney, Jr. has appointed a former Clarksville Police officer as the district's first Special Assistant U.S. Attorney General for guns and gangs. Samuel Knolton, Jr. was sworn in yesterday as a measure aimed at taking guns off the streets of Montgomery and Robertson counties to decrease violence. The Clarksville Leaf Chronicle reports last year's statistics show the program is needed: there were eight homicides, 88 aggravated assaults and 29 robberies involving a firearm in just six months of 2009. Knolton's position is being funded by Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide commitment of over $2 billion to reduce gun and gang crime across the country.